Why you should implement a Discovery Phase with your Website Redesign?

@WDB, the first step with any redesign project that we take on starts with a Discovery Phase.

This is THE MOST important phase in your website redesign or build. If you want to build a website that is constructed and developed for ROI, a website that becomes a marketing and sales machine that resonates with your customers and potential customers…than you need to start with a Discovery Phase.

Do you really know your audience like you think you do?

For us, the Discovery Phase is ESSENTIAL. If you are talking with other companies about handling your website redesign and they are telling you that they can turn it around and deliver you a finished product in a few weeks…for only a few grand…smile…turn…then…Run!

So what does the Discovery process entail? For one, we want to interview your clients or customers and your own management and staff. Some companies gulp and gasp at the thought.

“You mean, like actually call and talk to our customers? But what if they say something bad about us?” Well, if that was the case, wouldn’t you want the opportunity to fix the problem when you had the chance? After all, this is a comfortable interview not an interrogation.

Our clients ultimately decide who we will talk to when it comes to their clients or customers. They soon discover that their clients are more than happy to participate and we often hear from the interviewees that the process was actually very fun and interesting and not what they actually expected. It’s like a marketing focus group for your business.

The Power of Personas

If there are several different personas or industries that you focus on then we would like to be able to get a good sample from each. Although the various personas will navigate and visit the site in different ways, and through various touch points, at some point their individual paths will crisscross. But initially, we want to connect and engage with each persona as they interact with the website, delivering a customized nurturing and engaging experience.

With any project, we immerse ourselves into it. We are passionate about our clients and their success. We want to know about your business inside and out. Who are the various personas that are coming to your site? You may know your customers, but what about the visitors that are not converting into customers? Who are they? Why are they not converting?

If I told you, through this Discovery process that we could develop more insight into the various personas that are visiting your website that we could then create unique pathways for each that would eventually transform a visitor into a customer, would you listen?

If we can impact your business by taking the time to research, listen and understand the various personas by creating an effective customer journey and focus on your return on investment and not just a facelift do I have your full attention?

Looking For Leads in All The Wrong Places…

Your company’s website is your best sales person. It doesn’t sleep. It doesn’t take smoke breaks or run to Starbucks to get a hot Venti Mocha with whipped cream. It is a lead generator. And if your website has been spitting out dust and no new revenue or leads for your sales team, then without a DiscoveryPhase, you will get the same results with the next redesign. Dustballs.

A redesigned website is an investment. Yes, it needs to be an extension of your brand, deliver your message in an effective and clear way…and it needs to stand out from the rest of the competition. But, the bigger picture is this…it also needs to function for financial success. What we stress to our new clients is that we are building the website not for you, not for us (even though we think we are J), but for your clients. What do they want to see? What features do they care about? What is lacking from the website? Newsletters? Blogs? Video? Social? Something else?

We use this Discovery Phase to learn about your client base, your competition and what also rises to the surface are keywords and descriptions that help define your business. We then start to notice patterns and commonalities between the various interviews and the answers that we capture from this phase. Taglines, mission statements, logo revisions, color scheme changes and refined brand messaging have emanated out of these sessions.

It can be an eye opening experience for our clients. Often times, they quickly realize that their audience has shifted over the past five years or perhaps the primary personas they were so confident about before are now secondary in their audience base.

Don’t Ditch the Discovery

The Discovery process implemented into your company’s website redesign can make the difference in your bottom line if you do your research, listen to your customers and keep up with the competition.

If your company is about to make a major long-term investment with the redesign, don’t you want to do it right? Your company or your job is depending on a successful outcome.

Want to learn more? Contact me at Ron@WDB.agency

UPCOMING – We will be featuring Building Engines and talking about their redesign transformation which resulted in doubling of their sales.

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